Contents

History

Early Life

Dr. Chen Lu was a respected nuclear physicist for the People's Republic of China. After the thunder god Thor thwarted a Chinese military incursion into India, the Chinese government called upon its scientists and military strategists for a way to retaliate against Thor. Chen Lu had already been experimenting for several years with a way of harnessing nuclear radioactivity to induce superhuman powers in human beings. Chen Lu, concealing his own aspirations of world conquest, volunteered to become China's human weapon against Thor.[1]

Radioactive Man's first appearance

Origin

Having already spent months immunizing himself against the harmful effects of radiation, Chen Lu exposed himself to massive doses of specific-particle radiation, thereby mutating his body. After impressing his superiors with a demonstration of the new superhuman powers he had gained, Chen Lu, calling himself the Radioactive Man. [2]There are two different accounts as to what happened next. In the original account, the Radioactive Man is smuggled into New York City where he battles Thor. Thor used a massive vortex to send the Radioactive Man back to China before he could reach critical mass and explode. [1] The second account states that the Radioactive Man attacked Thor along the India/China border. During the battle the Radioactive Man forced Thor to recall how he was banished to Earth, causing a brief reversion back to Donald Blake. However Blake regained his hammer and defeated the Radioactive Man. In the aftermath of the battle the American government -- through Tony Stark -- thanked Thor for his assistance, but their ability to make a connection between Donald Blake and himself did not sit well with the thunder god. [3]

Masters of Evil I

In fact however, the Radioactive Man went into hiding until Baron Heinrich Zemo located him and enlisted him in his criminal organization, the original Masters of Evil. By this time, the Radioactive Man was no longer serving China's Communist leaders. The Avengers defeated the Masters of Evil.[4]

Masters of Evil II

Years later the Radioactive Man joined a new Masters of Evil organized by the Crimson Cowl who was revealed to be the robot Ultron. This second Masters of Evil was also defeated by the Avengers, and the Radioactive Man was imprisoned in a cell designed especially to restrain a being with his powers.[5][6][7]

Titanic Three

After breaking out of prison, the Radioactive Man fled to Communist controlled Vietnam, where he briefly teamed up with the Titanium Man and the third Crimson Dynamo as the Titanic Three, champions of Eastern Communism. These three former Communist agents had decided to serve their former masters no longer and wanted no longer to be considered criminals. In Communist controlled Vietnam, the Titanic Three instead acted to punish criminals.[8]However, the Titanic Three later broke up under circumstances that have yet to be revealed. [9][10][11][12]

Masters of Evil III

Eventually, the Radioactive Man was contacted by criminal scientist Elihas Starr, otherwise known as "Egghead", and agreed to join yet another incarnation of the Masters of Evil.[13][14] But after Dr. Henry Pym defeated the group single-handedly, the Radioactive Man was deported by the United States government.[15]

Thunderbolts

Chen Lu joined the Thunderbolts after they declared their intention to stop Fathom Five, Atlantean terrorists who had attacked China.[21] The Radioactive Man helped the Thunderbolts when Hydra staged a major attack on New York City.[22]

Lu became very close to Songbird, who succeeded MACH-IV as leader of the Thunderbolts. They made a deal with the Commission on Superhuman Activities to test the New Avengers (who refused to work under government jurisdiction, making them loose cannons).[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]

The Thunderbolts reformed after Civil War as both the Colorado branch of the Initiative and the CSA's official unregistered superhuman hunters. Lu remained with the Thunderbolts voluntarily, unlike many of their members, on loan from the Chinese government. He wore a radiation suit as part of his costume as part of public relations maneuvering to make him seem more threatening while disguising his Asian features to improve the team's approval numbers in the more racist parts of America. He helped the Thunderbolts bring in various unregistered heroes such as Jack Flag and the Steel Spider.[37]

The Radioactive Man was disheartened to learn that his activities with the Thunderbolts were not just a "good will" mission -- Beijing actively wanted him away from China to avoid any further deaths or instability due to his powers. His ally the Collective Man told Lu he was still a favored son of China, but was not welcome home.[38]

Chen and the team battled Spider-Man and Anti-Venom. But during the fight, Chen had a portion of his radiation drained by Anti-Venom.[39]

Secret Invasion

During the Secret Invasion of the Skrulls, Osborn and Moonstone (Karla Sofen) began a plan to neutralize the Thunderbolts who would oppose him in his planned to exploit the invasion for his own personal agenda, in order to gain more power. [42][43] Osborn arranged for Chen to be deported back to China, destroying his relationship with Songbird. Melissa was forced to let him go without much of a good-bye because Bullseye was secretly threatening her wife a knife during Lu's departure.[44]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Radiation Absorption & Manipulation: Exposure to high levels of radiation has mutated Chen Lu's body. As a result, Lu's primary superhuman power is the ability to absorb and manipulate high levels of radiation for a number of purposes and effects. In the case of other beings that have received powers based from exposure to radiation, Lu can manipulate the radiant energies of those individuals usually for the purposes of temporarily shutting down their powers. Lu can also purposely lower the levels of radiation within himself. Although he can only do so for short periods of time, he can cause his skin to look normal.[49]

Energy Blasts: Lu can expel radiation from himself in a number of ways such as firing blasts of solid radiation in the form of powerful concussive blasts or emitting radiation in the form of intense heat that, at maximum temperature, is said to be hot enough to incinerate a city block. Lu can also purposely generate radioactive energy for the purposes of generating extremely bright light, bright enough to cause at least temporary blindness.[49]

Hard Radiation: Lu can also emit high levels of "hard" radiation from his body toward others. This has the effect of causing extreme disorientation and nausea in other people and, if he chooses to do so, Lu can emit high enough levels of hard radiation to facilitate radiation poisoning.[49]

Force Fields: Lu can manipulate the radioactive energy of his body to generate solid force fields around his body. While in these fields, Lu is very well protected from most forms of attacks. The force fields are powerful enough to withstand multiple hits from Thor's enchanted hammer Mjolnir.[49]

Superhuman Strength: Lu can channel the radioactive energies in his body for the purpose of temporarily increasing his strength to superhuman levels. At his peak, Lu can increase his strength sufficiently to lift at least 2 tons.[49]

Abilities

Genius Intelligence: Chen Lu is an expert on radiation and nuclear physics. He is among the world's foremost authorities on the effects radiation has on human anatomy.[49]

Weaknesses

Lu emits nuclear radiation at all times and can only remain in the presence of other individuals for short periods of time if he's wearing his null-radiation body harness. Also, absorbing large quantities of radiation can affect his emotional state.[49]

Trivia

Doctor Lu kept a count of the people he killed over the course of his life due to his powers, both intentionally and unintentionally.[50]

Discover and Discuss

Footnotes

↑Journey into Mystery #93 & Thor: First Thunder #4. Journey into Mystery #93 states that Radioactive Man was created in response to Thor's clash with Chinese forces, while Thor: First Thunder #4 states that Radioactive Man's creation happened prior to the battle. Also, elements of the story in Journey into Mystery #93 are subject to the Sliding Timescale. Namely, the conflict along the border between India and China is told in a narrative in which the Cold War was still on going. This should be considered a topical reference relative to the date of publication. Thor: First Thunder #4 modernizes this plot element by stating that the border was in dispute. Another topical reference in Journey #93 is the depiction of Chairman Mao as the ruler of China in the story. This is another topical reference in relation to the year of publication.